Psalm on Chaos | The Pastor's Workshop

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God of grace and truth—Father, Son, and

Author

Scripture

Matthew 5:14-16, Ephesians 4:15, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 46:1, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, John 14:27, Psalm 145:8

God of grace and truth—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Thank You. Thank You for being there even when we don’t feel it. Thank You for keeping Your eyes on us, even when we lose sight of You. Thank You f...

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Faithful God, our Father, Lord and

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 139:13-16, John 16:33, Ephesians 4:3-6, Isaiah 40:29-31, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Jeremiah 1:4-10, Matthew 5:9

Faithful God, our Father, Lord and Counselor: By your grace you know our names before we are even born. By your grace you call us your own sons and daughters. By your grace you give us an eternal purp...

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Author

Philip Yancey

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Scripture

Exodus 2:23–25, 1 Samuel 1:10–11, Jonah 2:1–2, Matthew 5:3, Luke 18:13–14, Psalm 34:18

Human beings do not readily admit desperation. When they do, the kingdom of heaven draws near.

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Author

C. S. Lewis

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Scripture

Micah 6:8, Matthew 5:7, James 2:13, Psalm 85:10, Zechariah 7:9, Proverbs 21:21, Luke 6:36

Mercy, detached from Justice, grows unmerciful.

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Author

Simone Weil

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Scripture

Revelation 21:6, Matthew 5:6, Isaiah 55:1-2, Psalm 16:11, John 4:13-14, Jeremiah 2:13, Romans 3:23

Every sin is an attempt to fly from emptiness.

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Gracious God, our hearts are often

Author

Laura B. Murray

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Scripture

Psalm 51:10, Jeremiah 17:9-10, Matthew 5:8, Romans 7:21-23, James 4:8, Ezekiel 36:26, 1 John 3:3, Psalm 73:1, Psalm 24:3-4, Matthew 15:19-20, Romans 12:2, Psalm 139:23-24, Titus 1:15, James 1:2-8, Matthew 12:25

Gracious God, our hearts are often divided between what is good and what is evil. Not one of us is pure in heart yet we long to have a whole heart.

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Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of

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Scripture

Colossians 3:15, Isaiah 11:9, John 16:33, Psalm 85:10, Matthew 5:9, Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:7

Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed; kindle, we ask, in the hearts of all people the true love of peace, and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdom those who take counse...

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Prayer for Times of Conflict

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Scripture

Matthew 5:9, Romans 12:17-18, Psalm 34:14, Ephesians 4:2-3, John 14:27, Romans 14:19, 2 Corinthians 13:11, James 3:18, Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:6-7

O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual...

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Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 4:3–8 , Exodus 32:19–20 , Proverbs 14:29, Matthew 5:22, Ephesians 4:26–27, Psalm 37:8

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything onto which it is poured.

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Author

Desmond Tutu

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 2:14, Romans 14:17, Matthew 5:9, Zechariah 7:9-10, Psalm 85:10, Amos 5:24

There is no peace in Southern Africa. There is no peace because there is no justice. There can be no real peace and security until there be first justice enjoyed by all the inhabitants of that beautif...

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Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines

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Scripture

John 8:12-20, Psalm 136:, Psalm 27:, Isaiah 60:1-5, Ephesians 5:5-20, Matthew 5:13-16

Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines within us. Let not my doubts nor my darkness speak to me. Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines within us. Let my heart always welcome your love. Amen.

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All: Gracious God, you promise that

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

John 8:12, John 1:, Psalm 27:, Isaiah 9:2, Psalm 119:105, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 60:1, Matthew 5:14-16

All: Gracious God, you promise that your light drowns out darkness, yet the darkness is so persistent. We cannot see in front of us, so we look to our own knowledge and ways. Forgive us for turning to...

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Almighty God, too often we settle for

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:18, Psalm 51:10, Isaiah 1:17, James 2:13, Micah 6:8, Matthew 5:6

Almighty God, too often we settle for brokenness in our lives. Rather than offering forgiveness, we hold onto offense. Rather than pursuing justice, we turn away . Rather than offering mercy, we c...

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Hope Through Divine Light

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

John 8:12, Psalm 27:1 , John 1:5, Isaiah 9:2, Matthew 5:14-16, Proverbs 3:5-6, Ephesians 5:8-9

All-gracious God, you promise that your light drowns out darkness, yet the darkness is so persistent. We cannot see in front of us, so we look to our own knowledge and ways. Forgive us for turning to ...

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Imagining the Kingdom

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 65:17-25, Micah 4:1-4, Exodus 3:7-10 , Luke 4:18-19, Matthew 5:1-12, Psalm 146:7-9

Author and Episcopal priest Stephanie Spellers suggests that instead of imagining a kingdom, a better way for us to understand what Jesus had in mind when he spoke of this script, this new way of livi...

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Light Guides Our Steps

Author

Steve Garnaas Holmes

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:105, Isaiah 9:2, John 1:4-5 , Matthew 5:14-16, Luke 1:78-79

Leader: God of promise, God of Mystery, you have sent a messenger to awaken us. All: May the promise of your dawn awaken our hearts and minds. May the light of your promise g...

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Author

Nicholas Wolterstorff

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 2:14, Colossians 3:15, Matthew 5:9, Isaiah 9:6-7, Romans 14:17, Psalm 85:10, Micah 4:3-4

In shalom, each person enjoys justice, enjoys his or her rights. There is no shalom without justice. But shalom goes beyond justice. Shalom is the human being dwelling at peace in all his or her relat...

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Author

Bryan Stevenson

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 57:15, Matthew 5:3, Matthew 5:7, 2 Corinthians 12:9, James 4:6, Micah 7:18

There is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy. When you experienc...

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Benediction of Discontent

Author

Drew Edward Jackson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:4, Psalm 126:5, Romans 12:9, Isaiah 57:15, 2 Corinthians 7:10

May God bless you with tears of lament that mourn over the injustice of our world. May you be blessed with a holy discontent over the way the world is. May the Spirit of Jesus shake you out of com...

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Punishing John Chrysostom Isn’t Easy

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Scripture

Job 1:42, Daniel 3:, Matthew 5:10-12, Romans 8:35-39, Psalm 23:4

John Chrysostom, the eloquent Church Father, had incurred the wrath of the Byzantine (aka Roman) Emperor Arcadius. Enraged, the emperor consulted his counselors on how to punish the powerful preacher....

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Organizing the World Quickly

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:9, Psalm 2:2-4, Isaiah 9:6, Proverbs 21:1, Daniel 2:21

The Yalta Conference, helmed by Allied leadership (Most notably Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin) came at the conclusion of hostilities in Europe during WWII. It dealt with a...

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Author

Thomas Dubay

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 3:2, Matthew 5:8, Colossians 1:15, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Psalm 27:4

We have been created and redeemed for the eternal ecstasy of an interpersonal immersion in the triune God, seeing infinite Beauty face to face.

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Why Such a Clean Room?

Author

Luke Norsworthy

Keywords

Control

Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-6, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Matthew 5:4, Isaiah 61:3, Psalm 34:18

In Luke Norsworthy’s book, God over Good , he describes the curiosity of a new friend whose bedroom was, to use his own words, “immaculate.” At the time this seemed strange, but in hindsight, and wit...

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Breathtaking Rightness

Author

Leonard Bernstein

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:6, Psalm 95:1-2, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Philippians 4:8, Ephesians 5:19, 1 Peter 3:3-4

Beethoven…turned out pieces of breath-taking rightness. Rightness—that’s the word! When you get the feeling that whatever note succeeds the last is the only possible note that can rightly happen at th...

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Author

Thomas à Kempis

Keywords

Attacks

Scripture

Matthew 5:11-12, Job 23:10, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Psalm 66:10-12, Proverbs 17:3, James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-4

For these attacks do not contribute to make us frail but rather show us to be what we are.

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Creation Continued

Author

Albert N. Wolters

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 3:9, Romans 8:19, Matthew 5:14, Isaiah 65:21-22, Psalm 8:6, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 1:28

The earth had been completely unformed and empty; in the six-day process of development God had formed it and filled it—but not completely. People must now carry on the work of development: by being f...

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Lord, we confess that we do not love

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 57:15, Psalm 42:1-2, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Matthew 18:3-4, Lamentations 3:22-23, Matthew 5:3-12, Luke 19:1-10

Lord, we confess that we do not love you with our whole hearts And we do not love our neighbour as ourselves. We seek the blessing of others Rather than the blessing of your grace We seek comfort in w...

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Author

Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:6, Psalm 145:19

All of us live inside of an economy of desire.

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Seeking a Better Way

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 11:1-9 , Isaiah 58:6-12, Jeremiah 29:4-7, Matthew 5:14-16, Acts 2:42-47, Psalm 133:

In the land whose founding metaphor was the mutuality of John Winthrop’s seventeenth-century vision of a “city set on a hill,” we live more and more in estranged, hostile, exclusive enclaves, linked o...

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God of nations and Lord of all

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, Romans 15:5-6, Isaiah 58:10-11, Psalm 34:18-19, Matthew 5:4, Isaiah 41:10

God of nations and Lord of all creation: You were there at the beginning of time and at our beginning, and You will be there at the ending and when we finally come home. There is no time You are not t...

psalms on Chaos

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